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April 18, 2009

G11: Red Sox 6, Orioles 4

Kevin Youkilis sparked the Sox with his first four-hit game of the season: single, two doubles, home run. He drove in four runs, three on a dong to left in the third.

Beckett stumbled in the fifth. The inning began with a single, double, walk, bases-loaded walk, double and fielding error. But with a man on second and no outs -- tying run at the plate -- he settled down, getting out of trouble, then ending his night by setting down the side in order with a seven-pitch sixth inning.

And the bullpen was stellar once again. Okajima, Saito and Papelbon combined for a 3-2-0-0-4 line.

Also: Cleveland scored 14 runs in the second inning against the Yankees and won 22-4. Because the Rays lost to Chicago, the Red Sox hopped over them into fourth place. At 5-6, we are 3 GB the high-flying Blue Jays.

Heh, once I saw the scoreboard on ESPN, I knew I could count on this thread for some chuckles. Schadenfreude indeed. Will be listening to Sox on XM on way to friend's pool. It's HOT in the bay area today.

A, do you remember being at a game in - where? Chicago? - it was the midwest trip - looking at the scoreboard and the Yankees were losing 21-1 (IIRC)? Wasn't that also against the Spiders? That was the time Georgie started piping "inspirational" bad music during batting practice.

When asked why he posted the messages -- "Winners Never Quit, Quitters Never Win" and "When the going gets tough, the tough get goin'" (and music by Billy Ocean?!?) -- Steinbrenner issued a statement: "I wanted to show the fans that we have the same courage and the same attitudes all New Yorkers have had in fighting back from that terrible episode on 9/11. New Yorkers never give up and the Yankees never give up."

Jere, I thought more about your G___ L___ question, would I boo him on opening day in 2004. The answer is: it would be a great test of my strength and principles, and I hope I would pass the test. No one is perfect, so I don't know if I would do the right thing, but most of us know how we'd like ourselves to act.

Ofer, where are you? Someplace that will make me envious, no doubt...I'm in Utila, a small island off the carribean coast of Honduras. Island life is really strange, I must say. And I'm starting a diving course tomorrow.

Honduras is surprisingly very much US-influenced. I think I've seen more US fast food chains in one day in Honduras than in 10 months in the rest of Latin America. But I hear Costa Rica and Panama are quite the same in that regard.